Turning point in the struggle for an independent United States of America Saratoga Battle Chapter Sons of the American Revolution 4 July 2002 Originally placed in honor of our Nation’s Bicentennial — — Map (db m9171) HM
Here you can walk the place where the Second Battle of Saratoga ended in an
American victory. Between the end of the First Battle of Saratoga on September
19 and the Second Battle of Saratoga on October 7, about 600 German soldiers
encamped . . . — — Map (db m211373) HM
Mid-September of 1777 found an American army of 8,500 encamped on these uplands, called Bemis Heights. The soldiers worked feverishly building fortifications to block the Crown Forces marching from the north. You can see the site of American . . . — — Map (db m220499) HM
Standing here in the summer of 1777, with you back to the invading Crown Forces, you would have seen the eastern leg of the American fortifications which surrounded Bemis Heights. The white stakes across the ravine mark the southern end of these . . . — — Map (db m11533) HM
Skillful military engineering converted this bluff into a stronghold. Gun batteries on the river flats below commanded even the hills on the other side of the river. Behind you, across the ravine, was the main American line. It was this the British . . . — — Map (db m11531) HM
Still caught in the frenzy of fighting at the Barber Wheat Field, American troops launched savage attacks across this area in a vain attempt to drive the Crown Forces from these fortifications. — — Map (db m11508) HM
Artillery and infantry positions along this bluff commanded the road to Albany. This defense line forced the British army to fight on American terms. — — Map (db m11561) HM
While Morgan’s Light Corps, the 5th and 6th Massachusetts Continentals and other American troops attacked the Breymann Redoubt from the front, the intrepid Benedict Arnold – without a command of his own - joined a handful of Americans in a daring . . . — — Map (db m210105) HM
The farmhouse which stood near here was used as an American observation post. Between the engagements, Patriot pickets held the near side of the Middle Ravine; British pickets, the far side. — — Map (db m9894) HM
Near this very spot, a musket ball crashed into the leg of General Benedict Arnold
as he led a charge to the rear of the fortified camp. He had been shot "through his Ankle, which broke the Bone." The wound left him injured for life. After eight . . . — — Map (db m210104) HM
You are on the crest of Bemis Heights at the apex of the American defense lines. Nearby were a fortified barn, batteries, infantry breastworks, hospital, headquarters and encampment sites. — — Map (db m9878) HM
Erected 1887 by John Watts de Peyster Brev. Maj. Gen. S.N.Y. 2nd V. Pres’t Saratoga Mon’t Ass’t’n In memory of the “most brilliant soldier” of the Continental Army, who was desperately wounded on this spot, the sally port of Burgoynes . . . — — Map (db m9141) HM
This reconstruction is one of two small outworks that were built to provide forward protection for the much larger Balcarres Redoubt. The knoll derives its name from the many casualties suffered in this area during the fighting of October 7, 1777. . . . — — Map (db m11510) HM
Born: Invernesshire, Scotland Died: Saratoga, New York This memorial commemorates the death and burial October 8, 1777 of General Simon Fraser, a loyal Highlander, trusted soldier, and respected leader of Burgoyne’s advance corps who was mortally . . . — — Map (db m9374) HM
Here you would have seen thousands of British, Irish, and German soldiers,
women, and children in 1777. They had camped on this site in relative safety
for the weeks between the two battles of Saratoga.
General Burgoyne's army had 3,800 . . . — — Map (db m210096) HM
Scaled in size according to the rank of the occupant, Crown Force officers’ tents – or marquees – graced the American wilderness with fluttering pennants, elegant fringe and elaborate awnings and breezeways. The several large, colorful marquees . . . — — Map (db m210094) HM
On the night of October 8, Burgoyne began his retreat northward. At Saratoga (Schuylerville) his army was surrounded by the Americans. After a week of siege, Burgoyne surrendered on October 17, 1777, by the terms of the Convention of Saratoga. . . . — — Map (db m10046) HM
The British General Simon Fraser, mortally wounded during the battle of October 7, 1777, was buried near this site the following day. — — Map (db m10065) HM
At the height of the fighting in the Barber Wheat Field, when New Hampshire Continentals overran two British cannons, an excited American officer, Colonel Joseph Cilly, leaped upon one of the smoking guns to claim it for the Patriots’ cause. — — Map (db m10022) HM
Crown Forces beat off repeated American attacks against this fortified position from about 3:30 in the afternoon until dusk on October 7, 1777. — — Map (db m11505) HM
When Burgoyne ordered his army into retreat, the Crown Forces Artillery Park – located on the flat area below and to your right – became a scene of frantic activity. The artillery equipment assembled there – larger field guns and . . . — — Map (db m36826) HM
When the order came to retreat, the civilian teamsters contracted by the British – many from Canada – began harnessing teams of horses and yoking pairs of bawling oxen in the Baggage Park on the flat directly below you. Wagons and two-wheeled carts . . . — — Map (db m36828) HM
On the wooded hill to the left stand Earthworks thrown up by Amer. Army before the Battle of Saratoga 1777 State Education Department 1932 — — Map (db m11563) HM
The Champlain Canal/Bemis Heights site is a residential site first occupied during the 1830s soon after the construction of the Champlain Canal. The highway (NY 32) was developed during the eighteenth century as a north-south passage between the . . . — — Map (db m28605) HM
The first battle of Saratoga was fought here on September 19, 1777. The map shows the troop positions. British forces drove the Americans from this place immediately around Freeman’s farmhouse. Then the British fortified the area, including the . . . — — Map (db m11504) HM
Through this place passed Gen. Henry Knox in the winter of 1775-1776 to deliver to Gen. George Washington at Cambridge the train of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga used to force the British Army to evacuate Boston Erected by The State of New York . . . — — Map (db m23709) HM
Saratoga 1777 British Redoubt To commemorate the services of Lieutenant John Hardin of Morgan’s Rifle Corps who led a successful reconnaissance Sept. 18, 1777. Who also distinguished himself in the battles fought on this ground Sept. 19 and . . . — — Map (db m66808) HM
John Neilson, who farmed this land, cast his lot with the Patriot cause. The building you see is a restoration of his original home. By mid-September 1777, the American Army had taken over Neilson’s house and barn, and enclosed much of his farm . . . — — Map (db m220492) HM
In memory of The Noble Son of Poland Brig. General Thaddeus Kosciuszko Military Engineer Soldier of the War of Independence who under the command of General Gates selected and fortified these fields for the great Battle of Saratoga in which the . . . — — Map (db m9690) HM
In marked contrast to the officers’ marquees were hundreds of enlisted men’s tents. The main British encampment of some 4,000 soldiers extended east of Balcarres Redoubt to beyond the crest of the rise in front of you and to your left. Markers in . . . — — Map (db m210095) HM
Burgoyne’s retreating army was forces to leave its sick and wounded to the care of the Americans. The main British medical facilities were located on the flat area below and to your right. — — Map (db m36824) HM
Spurred on by their success in the nearby wheatfield,
nearly 1000 American soldiers attacked up the hill
directly in front of you. The defenders were now
greatly weakened.
More than half of Colonel Breymann's men had
gone out the morning of . . . — — Map (db m211371) HM
“I dedicate this gun to the American Cause.” Colonel Joseph Cilley In honor of Enoch Poor Brigadier-General of the New Hampshire troops Joseph Cilley Colonel of the First Regiment Henry Dearborn Colonel of the Second Regiment . . . — — Map (db m10084) HM
Under intense pressure from the Massachusetts Continentals and New York and Massachusetts militia, units of the German Brunswick and Hesse-Hanau regiments were forced back from this site near the center of the battle line. — — Map (db m66813) HM
If the ‘redcoats’ had advanced down the road below toward Albany the guns of this strongpoint would have been the first to greet them. In 1777 the road swung from its present route diagonally across the fields below you toward the river. — — Map (db m9932) HM
When news of the British invasion reached the farmers who tilled these fields, some went north to join the Crown Forces. Such a loyalist was John Freeman. On a hot summer afternoon in 1777, one of Freeman’s neighbors who stayed to fight for the . . . — — Map (db m220510) HM
Here on these bluffs and in the valley below you can see
where General Burgoyne reassembled his army. It was
just one day after the October 7 battle.
The Hudson River and the river road had made it
possible for the British Army to march . . . — — Map (db m210823) HM
Here stood one of the strongest units of the American river fortifications. It was strengthened by the water batteries along the river. — — Map (db m9938) HM
It was supposed to be a secret retreat under cover of darkness. Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne abandoned his camp on October 8 and left behind 400 sick and wounded. A severe thunderstorm and plodding supply boats delayed the retreat. The hungry, . . . — — Map (db m209895) HM
In honor of Adjutant Philip Rockefeller Lieutenant Peter Rockefeller Lieutenant William Rockefeller Captain Diel Rockefeller Privates Simon Rockefeller Diehl Rockefeller Christian Rockefeller John Rockefeller Henry Rockefeller --------------- . . . — — Map (db m66812) HM
Here Morgan reluctant to destroy so noble a foe was forced by patriotic necessity to defeat and slay the gentle and gallant Fraser. To commemorate the magnanimity of Morgan’s heroic nature and his stern sense of duty to his country, this tablet is . . . — — Map (db m9378) HM
Here the battle raged back and forth on Sept. 19 and Oct. 7. Here Major Acland was wounded ---------- The gift of Mrs Estelle Willoughby — — Map (db m9383) HM
The hill above was the location of a Cold War early warning radar site built as part of a system designed
to defend the United States against enemy air attacks. This marker erected by and dedicated to the men and women of the 656th Radar Squadron . . . — — Map (db m131570) HM
American and British advance pickets often exchanged musket fire across Middle Ravine during the weeks that followed the Battle of September 19, 1777. Then, on the afternoon of October 7, excited American pickets reported large formations of Crown . . . — — Map (db m208864) HM
Grievously wounded, General Simon Fraser was carried here to the Taylor cabin, which had been taken over as a residence by Baroness Riedesel, the wife of the German commander.
The bleeding general was brought into the room, where a cheerful . . . — — Map (db m32502) HM
Blockhouse
Replica of an 18th century
blockhouse. Built in 1927.
Original visitor center at
Saratoga Battlefield.
Moved to this site in 1999.
— — Map (db m40491) HM
Erected by the war chest of The Town of Stillwater to honor patriotic services in The Great World War A. Bache • G. W. Baker • H. B. Baker • J. R. Baker • C. J. Baker • W. Barrey • A. Barthea • A. Barthiamie • L. A. Batchelder • J. L. Bennett • A. . . . — — Map (db m56989) HM
By closing the road and river, the Americans forced the British into rough, wooded lands where they could not use their infantry and artillery to best advantage. — — Map (db m220531) HM
Built in the 1820s, many years after the Revolutionary War, this section of the Champlain Canal followed the same natural north-south route chosen by Burgoyne’s invading army. Linking the Hudson River with Lake Champlain, the canal joined northern . . . — — Map (db m36829) HM
Thaddeus Kosciusko, a Polish military engineer and volunteer in the American cause, directed the building of fortifications to block the British Invasion. — — Map (db m11534) HM
Stunned and reeling from fighting in Barber’s Wheat Field, Crown Forces were able to re-form here behind previously constructed defenses. These log-and-earth walls had been built shortly after September 19, 1777. These fortifications are now known . . . — — Map (db m11507) HM
The fighting began where you now stand and in the woods behind you in mid-afternoon of October 7, 1777. Within minutes, more than 4,000 men collided in savage combat along a line stretching westward across the Barber Wheat Field in front of you and . . . — — Map (db m10020) HM
In the fields before you, the first action of the Battle of Saratoga began. Shortly after noon on September 19, American pickets posted in the Freeman House fired on advance elements of the center column of the British army. The Americans were . . . — — Map (db m220507) HM
Failing to capture the Balcarres Redoubt, the Americans surged against Crown Forces’ fortifications built here. Attacking relentlessly, they overwhelmed this important defensive position just before nightfall, October 7, 1777. Never more than a . . . — — Map (db m211372) HM
On October 7, General Burgoyne sent 1,500 men and 10 cannon to flank the American position on Bemis Heights. The Patriots intercepted the British here in the Barber wheatfield and the battle was on again. — — Map (db m210706) HM
As the action of October 7 developed, the British right and left flanks began to break under the American attack. General Simon Fraser was mortally wounded a few yards northwest of here (to your left) while trying to rally the British 24th Regiment. . . . — — Map (db m10015) HM
Two small fortified cabins defended by Canadian troops stood about 600 feet south of this site. These cabins were an important link in the British line of defense as can be seen on the reproduction map drawn by an English officer. Their capture . . . — — Map (db m66822) HM
Capture of the Breymann Redoubt forced Burgoyne to withdraw his army to a position centered on three fortifications shown on this map drawn by a British officer. This is the site of the eastern wall of the second of these three fortifications which . . . — — Map (db m10066) HM
Morning skirmishing in the woods over a
mile north of here on September 19, 1777
made clear. The British were coming.
General Arnold "took the liberty to give it as my Opinion that we ought to March out and attack them." General Gates agreed. . . . — — Map (db m208865) HM
On these bluffs the British constructed three redoubts to protect their artillery park and hospital, located on the river flats below. — — Map (db m210825) HM
This monument is erected by the Ancient Order of Hibernians of Saratoga County to the memory of Timothy Murphy Celebrated marksman of Colonel Morgan’s Rifle Corps whose unerring aim turned the tide of battle by the death of the British General . . . — — Map (db m28611) HM
The Unknown American Soldiers who perished in the Battles of Saratoga September 19 and October 7, 1777 and were here buried in unmarked graves helped to assure the triumph of the War of Independence, to create the Republic of the United States of . . . — — Map (db m9736) HM
Captain 4th Company Colonel Thaddeus Cook’s Regiment Connecticut Militia Killed here in the Battle of Saratoga September 19, 1777 Erected by Bidwell Family Association September 19, 1924 — — Map (db m11511) HM
